Year's top officer is a team player

Police corporal hailed for traffic enforcement

November 09, 2007|By Justin Fenton | Justin Fenton,Sun reporter

Described as a hard-working police officer and a true team player, Cpl. Eric Trumbauer lived up to the humble billing .

After being named Officer of the Year by the Northern District Police Community Relations Council Wednesday night and receiving accolades from the Police Department's top leaders, it was Trumbauer's turn to speak.

"Thanks everyone," he said. With that, he waved and left with his wife and newborn child.

Community leaders and police officials applauded Trumbauer's work during the past year, notably his aggressive traffic enforcement and quick-thinking.

Since September of last year, he has written nearly 800 traffic enforcement citations or warnings, and made 28 driving-under-the-influence arrests. As one of his shift's Breathalyzer operators, he also aids officers across the county in the investigation of impaired-driving offenses.

Lt. T.J. Altomare, the commander of Trumbauer's fourth platoon in the Northern District, also pointed out some of Trumbauer's notable arrests. He was the first on the scene for a Jan. 8 gas station robbery on Baltimore-Annapolis Blvd., ordering a suspect - who was wearing a ski mask and holding a store clerk behind the counter with an eight-inch butcher knife - to surrender.

"Cpl. Trumbauer's actions kept the suspect from inflicting further harm on the victim and may well have saved his life," Altomare wrote in a nomination letter to Capt. Joseph Jordan, commander of the Northern District.

Trumbauer also seized 14.5 grams of suspected cocaine during a traffic stop on Ritchie Highway and helped take a suspect in a domestic stabbing into custody without incident.

Col. James Teare, the Anne Arundel County police chief, and Deputy Chief David Pressley attended the meeting to congratulate Trumbauer and the community relations council, which Teare said has "pulled the community together to act as one."

"This recognition means so much to the officers," Pressley said. "They'll act like it's not a big deal when they're amongst their peers ... but it's the first thing on their resumes, that they were Officer of the Year."